Burner region on 05.01.2022 | Benji_01

Snow condition

Currently reasonable snow conditions, in the Brenner region not as much has melted away as expected despite the warm front. Good base in open fields and forests, but this is no longer present in the denser forest. Most of the pillows are well covered and the landings are also soft. Descent into the valley is possible, but more of this kind of snowfall would of course be very beneficial for the possibilities in the forest.

Snow quality

The snow quality is currently divided into two parts. After the fresh snowfall on January 5, there is finally fluffy powder snow on the surface again. Around 15 cm of fresh snow in the valley and around 20 cm of new, fluffy powder from 1,900 meters upwards. The second part of the snow cover is characterized by a nice rain crust that doesn't really hold the fresh snow in steeper terrain. Wherever there are already tracks or where there is little snow due to the terrain, you can still feel the rain crust. This is especially the case up to around 1,900 meters, above that the snow quality is really nice without a scratchy base.

There were no fresh avalanches to be seen, but this was of course also due to the limited visibility. In view of the strong westerly wind, drift snow packs are definitely to be expected in the next few days, which can probably be triggered quite easily due to the base (rain crust). In the forest, you should drive with the handbrake on in places with little snow, as tree stumps are sometimes hidden under the layer of fresh snow.

Overall impression

All in all, a beautiful tour in the Brenner region. It's slowly becoming standard for me to head south from Innsbruck to tour... Three stars, as there was finally some powder snow again, but in view of the rain crust and the previous warm front, more precipitation at temperatures below 0° C is definitely needed for really good days. Conditions will certainly still be good tomorrow, but it will only be fun where nobody has skied through yet. In view of the wind, the quality of the powder will suffer somewhat.